SEBI launched a chatbot named SEVA

♦ Markets regulator SEBI launched a chatbot named ‘SEVA’ for investors on 29 July 2024. SEVA is an Artificial Intelligence (AI) based conversation platform. The chatbot is presently enabled to answer questions relating to general information on the securities market, the latest master circulars, grievance redressal process, etc. 

♦ The Beta version of chatbot SEVA (Sebi’s Virtual Assistant) includes features like citations for generated responses, speech-to-text and text-to-speech functionality for accessibility, and follow-up questions, among others.

♦ Chatbot: A chatbot is a computer program designed to simulate human conversation through text or voice interactions. Think of it as a virtual assistant that can understand and respond to your questions, requests, or commands.
 

Rapido as a unicorn

♦ Rapido has joined the unicorn club after raising around $120 million (Rs.1,000 crore) in its latest Series E funding round led by its existing investor WestBridge Capital. 

♦ A unicorn means a privately owned startup valued at over $1 billion. Rapido closely competes with players like Ola, Uber and Namma Yatri.

♦ Rapido was founded in 2015 by Aravind Sanka, Pavan Guntupalli and Rishikesh SR.

♦ Rapido is the third to become a unicorn this year (2024) after Perfios and Ola founder Bhavish Aggarwal’s Krutrim AI turned unicorns earlier. In 2023, there were only two new unicorns - Zepto and InCred Wealth.
 

Reserve Bank of India

♦ The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has released its report on Currency and Finance (RCF) for the year 2023-24 on 29 July 2024. The report titled "India's Digital Revolution".

Highlights:

♦ The report noted that the average cost of data breaches in India has risen to $2.18 million in 2023, a 28% increase since 2020.

♦ Globally, the cost of cybercrime is expected to reach $13.82 trillion by 2028, up from $8.15 trillion in 2023.

♦ The Aadhaar system has facilitated over 116 billion authentications and 20 billion electronic-know-your-customer (e-KYC) verifications, since 2014.

♦ Direct Benefit Transfers (DBTs) have streamlined the distribution of subsidies, transferring Rs 6.9 lakh crore for 315 schemes to 176 crore beneficiaries in 2023-24.

♦ The UPI system has witnessed a dramatic rise in transaction volume, from 12.5 billion transactions in 2019-20 to 131 billion transactions in 2023-24, accounting for 80 percent of all digital payment volumes.

♦ n June 2024 alone, the UPI recorded nearly 14 billion transactions, supported by 424 million unique users.
 

Union Budget 2024-25

♦ Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the Union Budget 2024-25 in Lok Sabha on 23 July 2024. This is her seventh consecutive budget and eclipsing the late Moraji Desai’s record of six consecutive budgets. The government is estimated to spend Rs.48,20,512 crore in 2024-25, 8.5% higher than the actual expenditure in 2023-24. Total capital expenditure was projected to be Rs.11,11,111 crore, fiscal deficit is estimated at Rs.16,13,312 crore, revenue receipts are estimated at Rs.31,29,200 crore, while the net tax revenue to the Centre is projected to be Rs.25,83,499 crore. 

♦ Highlights & Sector wise allocations:

♦ The budget highlights nine core priorities of the government -  Agriculture, Employment, Social Justice, Manufacturing and Services, Urban Development, Energy Security, Innovation, Research and Development, Next-Generation Reforms.

♦ The Union Government had Rs.1247211.28 crores of Union taxes and duties to distribute to the states. In statement showing the state-wise distribution of net proceeds of Union Taxes and Duties for Budget Estimates 2024-25, Uttar Pradesh receives the highest share at around 18% with Rs.223737.23 crores.

♦ Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman allocated Rs1.52 lakh crore to the agriculture sector. 

♦ The government allocated an outlay of Rs.6,21,940.85 crore for defence for FY25, which is the highest among all the Union ministries.

Economic Survey 2023-24

♦ Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the Economic Survey 2023-24 in Parliament on 22 July 2024.  The survey projects the FY25 real GDP growth at 6.5-7%.

♦ It reveals that India’s workforce of nearly 56.5 crores is distributed across several sectors: over 45% in agriculture, 11.4% in manufacturing, 28.9% in services, and 13% in construction.

♦ The survey highlighted a significant rise in female labour force participation over the past six years. The participation rate increased from 23.3 percent in 2017-18 to 37 percent in 2022-23, driven primarily by the growing participation of rural women. Additionally, the unemployment rate has been declining, dropping to 3.2 percent in 2022-23.

♦ Highlights:

♦ Job Creation: India needs to generate approximately 7.85 million jobs annually in the non-farm sector until 2030 to accommodate its growing workforce.

♦ Inflation Management: Retail inflation decreased to 5.4 percent in FY24, down from 6.7 percent in FY23, due to effective policy responses amidst both global and domestic challenges.

♦ Foreign Direct Investment (FDI): FDI remained resilient, despite a slight decline in new capital inflows to USD 45.8 billion in FY24 from USD 47.6 billion in FY23, reflecting broader global economic trends.

♦ Sectoral Growth: The services sector grew by 7.6 percent in FY24, while the agriculture sector expanded by 4.18 percent over the past five years.

♦ The first economic survey reportedly came into existence in 1950-51, when it used to be a part of the budget documents. In the 1960s, it was separated from the Budget documents and presented the day before the Union Budget.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB)

♦ The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved $240.5 million in loans to finance rooftop solar systems in India that will help the government expand energy access using renewable energy. The financing will support tranches 2 and 3 of the Multitranche Financing Facility (MFF) Solar Rooftop Investment Program approved by ADB in 2016. The program was restructured in 2023 to focus on deploying residential solar rooftop systems. 

♦ The financing will be made available to the State Bank of India (SBI) and the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) to provide loans to developers and end-users throughout India to install rooftop solar systems. ADB will provide SBI $90.5 million from its Clean Technology Fund (CTF) while NABARD will receive $150 million—comprised of $80 million from ADB’s ordinary capital resources and $70 million from CTF.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB)

♦ The Asian Development Bank (ADB) projected India's GDP growth forecast at 7 percent for the current financial year 2024-25. For the financial year 2025-26, ADB has pegged India’s GDP growth at 7.2 percent.

♦ The International Monetary Fund (IMF) also revised upward its GDP growth projections for India to 7 percent compared to 6.8 percent projected in April, 2024.

♦ In 2024, June, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) revised upward its growth forecast to 7.2 percent, from 7 percent estimated earlier.

International Monetary Fund (IMF)

♦ The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has raised India’s growth projections for 2024 from 6.8 percent earlier to 7 percent in its latest outlook.

♦ The IMF had earlier projected growth rate of 6.5 percent for 2024, revising it to 6.8 percent and now 7 percent. 

♦ For the year 2025, the IMF projected India’s growth rate at 6.5 percent.

♦ According to official data of the Indian government, the country’s GDP grew at an impressive 8.2 percent during the financial year 2023-24, and it continued to remain the fastest-growing major economy. India’s economy grew 7.2 percent in 2022-23 and 8.7 percent in 2021-22 respectively.

Indias employment growth rate

♦ According to a RBI report, India's employment growth rate stood at 6 percent in that 2023-24 fiscal year. India provisionally created 46.7 million jobs in the financial year ended March 2024. India's total employment surged to 643.3 million in 2023-24, up from 596.7 million in FY23. 

The Asian Development Bank (ADB)

♦ India and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) signed a $170 million policy-based loan to enhance India’s preparedness and response capacity for future pandemics. The agreement, part of the ‘Strengthened and Measurable Actions for Resilient and Transformative Health Systems Programme was signed by Juhi Mukherjee, Joint Secretary of the Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance, on behalf of the Indian government, and Mio Oka, Country Director of ADB’s India Resident Mission. 

♦ The programme aims to enhance disease surveillance systems by establishing laboratory networks for infectious disease surveillance at various levels and building robust data systems to monitor and coordinate national health programmes for vulnerable groups. It will also improve the governance of India’s One Health approach and its multisector response to emerging infectious diseases.